Misc electrical connector identification

[BSAmarc]

I'm new to the E30 scene and am trying to clean up the wiring under the dash of my car and came across the following disconnected wires. My car is a 1991 325i two door. I'm hoping this is enough details to go off, as most of these quickly disappear into the harness. But let me know if there's a better way to find where each one leads.

1. Blue connector at the end of a black wire. Has a butt connector inline so may not be OEM. It splits off from the wires going to the door chime speaker


2. Round bullet (male) inside a white connector at the end of a red wire with black stripe


3. Flat blade (female) inside a white connector at the end of a blue wire with gray stripe


4. Flat blade (female) inside a white connector at the end of a black wire


5. Flat blade (male) inside a white connector at the end of a black wire with yellow stripe

[BSAmarc]

6. three round bullets (female) in a green connector, brown with blue stripe / red with white stripe / brown


7. Flat blade (male) inside white connector at the end of a green wire with black stripe


8. in a connector block behind the gauge cluster, there is a connector block. Some spaces are opened without anything connected, one with a small bullet (bottom row) and others with bigger bullets (males)


9. Lastly, in the driver-side kick panel behind the speaker is a white connector with two wires, green w/ gray stripe and brown with blue stripe



Thanks in advance.

[Vincenze]

There are wire colors in the electric diagrams.

[BSAmarc]

Problem I find there, and maybe I haven't found the right diagram yet, is that colors appear to be re-used throughout the car, so green with red stripe means one thing in the dash but something else in the doors. Am I wrong?

[BSAmarc]

I've just come across http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/foru...asics?t=246732 which should help point me in the right direction.

[82eye]

I've just come across http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/foru...asics?t=246732 which should help point me in the right direction.

grab a complete copy of electrical diagrams for your model and year of car from here Index of /Manuals/BMW (wedophones.com)
the wire colors are listed and should help you trace out the connections.

[Vincenze]

You need the 1989 diagram. The 1991 diagram only shows some changes.

[BSAmarc]

The problem I'm finding is I can easily start from a circuit and work forward, like if I'm troubleshooting power window I can easily start from the fuse forward.

But what about the other way? Suppose I have a broken brown wire... I know it's a ground, but what does it go to? How do I use the diagram to figure this out?

[82eye]

The problem I'm finding is I can easily start from a circuit and work forward, like if I'm troubleshooting power window I can easily start from the fuse forward.

But what about the other way? Suppose I have a broken brown wire... I know it's a ground, but what does it go to? How do I use the diagram to figure this out?

if you downloaded the etm there is a section at the very beginning that tells you how to read it.

[BSAmarc]

Somehow, i'm finding that it's not so simple. Even after studying the ETM for 1989 + the addendum for 1991, I still struggle to make my way from one specific connector to its circuit and purpose. I don't want to sound like an a**; I'm truly trying to learn how to use this guide, but it's falling short for me.

One simple example:
This connector is present in the LH kick panel, behind the speaker. It is a three-bullet plug with two wires connected (BR/BU and GN/VI)


This should be easy enough as that space is relatively limited in circuits:

• radio (6500)
• central locking (5126)
• interior light timer (6330)
• power windows (5133)
• power mirrors (5116)

Luckily, ETM section 7000-5, fig 3 shows this section with two connectors: C510 and C205. I should be able to go to section 8500 (connector views) to see what each looks like. Not, sorry, not found there.

Maybe I can find C510 or C205 in any of the individual circuits listed above?

• radio = no
• central locking = no
• interior light timer = yes, C510 is there but it appears to be a single pin connector with a BR/VI wire
• power windows = no
• power mirrors = no

C205 isn't found but maybe this is a connector that someone relocated from elsewhere, so let's check for two or three pin connectors in section 8500
The only ones remotely close are C303 and C304 (section 8500-11). These also appear in section 7000-10 at base of LH and RH "B" pillar. So, relatively close to the kick panel. Though the picture in the ETM isn't great, it looks to show a connector with three wires used. Both of these are also found on the interior lights section (6330) but appear to use pins 1 (BR) and 3 (BR/VI)

Maybe this is an edge case and other connectors are easier to trace back, but that hasn't been my experience yet. Looks like I'm going to have to chase them through the harness and/or check for continuity throughout, hoping it provides a hint of what they do.

My car was an automatic car with airbag and is now a manual car without airbag, so I'm not surprised to find random connectors dangling. I want to figure out what each is so I can label and tuck them away if unnecessary. I'll be sure to update the post as I make progress.

(interestingly, I came across this post where a user had a much worse rat's nest than I do, and asked about this particular connector as well: https://www.r3vlimited.com/board/for...ems#post378611)

[BSAmarc]

FYI: I found the above connector in the ETM by checking each page for those specific wire colors. Appears to tie into the trunk locking mechanism.

Not the preferred way to trace a circuit so still hoping there's a better way.

[Panici]

Try running the ETM PDF through OCR in adobe acrobat (or your PDF tool of choice).

That will make it searchable, and you can find all references to a specific wire colour. (Don't forget that the abbreviations for colour are in German!)

Then match to connectors with the same combination.

[BSAmarc]

Try running the ETM PDF through OCR in adobe acrobat (or your PDF tool of choice).

That will make it searchable, and you can find all references to a specific wire colour. (Don't forget that the abbreviations for colour are in German!)

Then match to connectors with the same combination.

That's a good idea, let me give that a try.